Dr Mark Fendrick on the Potential Impact of IRA Drug Price Negotiation Provision on Commercial Plans

It's hard to predict whether the Medicare drug price negotiation provision in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) could lead to higher or lower prices in the commercial market, said A. Mark Fendrick, MD, co–editor in chief of The American Journal of Managed Care^® and director of the V-BID Center at the University of Michigan.

Transcript

Could the impact of the Medicare price negotiation provision in the IRA ripple out to employers and commercial health plans?

Well, there are many aspects of Medicare policy, including negotiation for prescription drugs, that the commercial market watches closely. There are many instances where the commercial market will follow suit on a Medicare policy, but there are some examples where it's not. So, some worry that they'll kind of march in lockstep. Others worry that there might be some type of cost shift in the fact that lower prices to the Medicare program might lead to higher prices for commercial payers. But as the great Yogi Berra used to say, predictions are dangerous, particularly those about the future. I tend to not be a prognosticator and leave that up to people who spend more time in the prescription drug arena.